Seneca mother charged with helping daughter beat teen

SENECA - Police say a Seneca mother has been charged with several offenses after she helped her two daughters beat up a 16-year-old at Seneca High School.

Lottie Young, 36, is charged with assault by a mob, using a minor to commit a crime, third-degree assault and battery, disturbing school and two charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Her daughters, 15 and 16, also face charges of assault by a mob, assault and battery and disturbing school. The minors have not been arrested but their mother was arrested after the Friday afternoon brawl and has since posted a $17,000 bond, Seneca Police Chief John Covington said.

Because of their age, the daughters' names and that of the victim were redacted from police reports.

According to a police report and school surveillance video, Young drove to the school around 3:20 p.m. Friday and was walking over to a group of girls before any punches were thrown.

Young told police that the girls were fighting when she arrived with her other daughter, who was not in school that day, and the two ran out of the car to help the other daughter.

The report says Young threw a school coach against another car at one point and held a high school girl "in what appeared to be an effort to keep her from being able to fight back and allowing her daughters to attack the victim at will."

Three videos, two from surveillance cameras and a third from a student's cell phone, corroborate the police version of the fight.

The apparent target in the fight, a 16-year-old girl, had a large clump of hair missing from her head, bruising to her face, and scratches on her arm and back. She was taken to Oconee Medical Center, where doctors determined she suffered a concussion during the beating.

Three coaches from Seneca High School attempted to intervene and were eventually able to break up the fight. One was thrown against a car by Young, according to the report.

Young went to her car after the fight and left with her daughters, refusing to stop for the coaches.

"You aren't talking to my daughters," she told one coach, according to the police report. "You all wouldn't handle it at school, so we handled it ourselves."

The report says Young had been told that her daughter was going to be in a fight, which is why she went to the school.

Young also allegedly left a 1-year-old daughter in her car during the fight.